The present invention is directed to portable floodlights and, more specifically, to an improved portable floodlight and stand therefor in which the conventional formed metal stand and splice box are relocated into a unique support stand. A unique swivel connection mounts the lamp housing to the stand.
Portable floodlights have become extremely popular in recent years. Such floodlights enable a consumer to extend the daylight activities with a portable source of light. Such floodlights are commonly provided with quartz lamps. Such floodlights have been found useful for recreational purposes such as camping, boating, entertaining, and sports such as volleyball and basketball; as a spotlight for decorating homes during holidays; for construction purposes such as painting, cleaning gutters, building decks, installing doors and windows, or pouring cement at night; or for emergency situations such as automotive problems, frozen pipes, and the like.
One type of portable floodlight presently available in the marketplace generally includes a formed metal or steel stand having a pair of parallel, horizontally extending legs which rest on some type of horizontal surface (floor, ground or the like). One of the legs continues upwardly and along a raised parallel horizontal path and has mounted thereto a lamp housing. A rather large handle is provided above the lamp housing for carrying the lamp from place to place. The lamp housing is generally pivotally mounted in some manner with a U-shaped bracket to the aforesaid horizontally extending support member of the stand.
A splice box or some other electrical enclosure containing a switch and electrical components is generally attached to the rear of the housing and provides a weatherproof outlet for the electrical components and/or connection. The lamp housing of conventional portable floodlights generally includes a peripheral flange which surrounds and frames a front opening. A glass lens is mounted in the rectangular open front and is usually sealed to the flange by a silicon rubber gasket for the purposes of making the housing watertight.
According to the present invention, various changes and modifications have been made to the conventional configuration in order to provide an improved product that also achieves certain manufacturing cost efficiencies. A first change that has been made is to eliminate the formed, generally S-shaped metal stand and replace it with a die-cast stand which is essentially a domed top with three downwardly and outwardly extending legs. The dome portion includes a stem extending upwardly therefrom to which the lamp housing is pivotally attached. The electronics or splice box is no longer attached to the rear of the lamp housing, however, has been moved to a position beneath the dome where it is protected from the weather and other elements. A supply cord connecting to the electrical components therein extends outwardly through the wall of the domed portion where connections can be made to a power source either directly or through an extension cord. In order to protect the electrical connections beneath the dome, a cover-plate is secured to the stand at a point beneath and spaced from the dome. In an alternate design for use with high pressure sodium lamps, a separate electrical component enclosure is used to mount such items as ballasts, starting aids, igniters, and the like to appropriate mounting bosses. This die-cast can replaces the cover-plate in such alternate embodiments, and permits the same fixture to be used with either double-ended high-pressure sodium lamps or quartz lamps.
The connection joint between the stand and the lamp housing includes a boss which extends upwardly from the domed portion of the stand and is received within an appropriate slot or opening in the bottom wall of the lamp housing. A connector clip is then mounted to the upper end of the stem. The connector clip is spring-biased against support surfaces within the housing to retain the housing in place. The spring-bias relationship between the clip and the housing provides adequate friction to hold the lamp housing at a selected position, yet allow it to be adjusted to another position without the use of tools, such as wrenches, pliers, or screwdrivers. The lamp housing, at its front opening, includes a forwardly extending protective flange or ledge extending around the sides, bottom and top. Two metal clips are used, one at the top and one at the bottom to hold the glass lens in place. A groove is provided in the casting around and beneath the periphery of the glass. The groove will channel any water that enters behind the glass to the bottom so that it can drain. Thus, the conventional silicon gasket is not necessary and has been eliminated. Instead of the traditional approach of keeping water out of the fixture housing by sealing it to be as rain-tight as possible, the present approach represents a new concept. In the new concept, the fixture head is so configured and the lens so loosely connected to the housing that any water which should enter the fixture also has a place to exit the fixture.
The handle for the fixture of the present invention is formed of a wire material formed into a generally U-shape. The ends of the wire snap into passageways in spaced mold seats behind the front flange along the top housing wall. In one position, the handle is folded down adjacent the housing to enable shipment in a minimum size box. Upon receipt of the product, the customer simply rotates the handle upwardly, whereupon it snaps into a locked position in the seats, all without tools.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improvements in portable floodlights.
It is another object of the present invention to improve portable floodlights by replacing the conventional formed metal stand with a unique sturdier stand which is more economical to manufacture.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a portable fixture of the type described which includes a unique swivel mounting means for connecting the lamp housing to the support stand.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a portable floodlight of the type described in which the splice box, ballast, starting aid, and all electrical connections have been moved from the rear of the lamp housing and incorporated into the support stand.